This weekend, the Russian pianist Varvara, one of today’s most renowned soloists, joins the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra to perform Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a true tour de force performed under the baton of British maestro Duncan Ward. Béla Bartók’s third piano concerto is a touchstone of piano virtuosity. The piece, a posthumous work written during the last months of his life, provides a great contrast with his two previous concertos, with a freeing of form and style that makes it one of his most lyrical and personal compositions.

The programme also features the world premiere of Nostalgia of light, Yearning for …, by the composer Núria Giménez Comas.

Also featuring will be two French masterpieces. The OBC will perform Le chaos (Chaos), the overture of Jean-Féry Rebel’s suite Les elements (The Elements), one of the first performances embodying the elements. The composer chose to capture the original chaos in an overture as realistically as possible, producing an incredible work for which there are no labels, completely dissociated from the conventions of his time and getting close to the orchestral tones of Ravel, with whom he shares the programme.

Of this composer’s works, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy the well-known Le Tombeau de Couperin (Couperin’s memorial), where Ravel uses François Couperin’s baroque suite to pay tribute to the composers of the past and dedicate this magnificent music to his friends who died on the front line in WWI.